1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of photography and specifically in the field of digital photography.
2. Prior Art
Digital technology has contributed significantly to the field of photography. Digital cameras greatly increase ease of image capture and manipulation relative to conventional technologies. However, the quality of a digitally captured image is still limited by the dynamic range of the image collection process. It is, therefore, desirable to indicate to a user information regarding the exposure characteristics of a captured digital image.
These exposure characteristics may include, for example, a distribution of exposure levels within an image or an indication that a maximum exposure level has been exceeded. Some digital cameras display a histogram indicative of the varying exposure levels found in a captured image. Other digital cameras display a series of exposure “zones” overlaid on a captured image. Each exposure zone is indicative of a different exposure level. In at least one instance, a digital camera indicates specific regions of a captured image that are overexposed by “blinking” the specific regions in a display of the image.
Systems in which exposure information is overlaid on an image and/or systems which blink specific regions of an image provide spatially dependent exposure information that, unfortunately, also obscures the underlying image. There is a need in the art for improved ways to display digital images and their corresponding exposure information.